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Piscataway man raises money for cancer research

MyCentralJersey
8:29 p.m. EDT June 15, 2014

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Only 22 plus hours to go. Kyle Gurkovich, a mathematics instructor at Quibbletown Middle School attempts to set a new Guinness World Record for the most pull-ups in 24 hours. The goal of his effort is to raise funds for Sloan Kettering Memorial Hospital in memory of Daniel Nols, a student who passed away several months ago from cancer. He works toward his goal at Retro Fitness, June 14, 2014. Piscataway NJ. photo by Kathy Johnson BRI EST 0615 Cancer fundraiser in Piscataway
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PISCATAWAY – When Kyle Gurkovich was growing up in the township, he had a friend who had cancer, Sean Hanna. Hanna was treated at Sloan Kettering Memorial Hospital but eventually died from the disease while he was in college.

"So when Daniel Nols, a student at Quibbletown Middle School, got the disease, I knew how his classmates felt. I felt the same way about Sean," said the hometown boy who came back to Piscataway to teach math. "I didn't know Daniel from my classes, but I knew him in the halls. Last year, they had a fundraiser dance for him, and Daniel asked me to be duct-taped."

At the dance, students bought 1-foot segments of duct tape and used them to tape Gurkovich to the wall.

Daniel died in February from cancer. He, too, was a patient at Sloan Kettering.

To help his students do something constructive in memory of their friend, Gurkovich spent most of Saturday trying to break the Guinness world record for pull-ups in 24 hours (4,030). Although he did not collect pledges of support, Gurkovich raised money for cancer research at Sloan Kettering through a website created by a parent of one of his students, Dawn Nesler. (See the info box.) And one of Gurkovich's friends designed black T-shirts with giant green letters that spelled "Team Gurk," which the students and staff at Quibbletown Middle School sold for $15 a piece to raise money. The event was conducted at Retro Fitness on Kingsbridge Avenue in the township.

Gurkovich has been an athlete all of his life, working out regularly at gyms, swimming, and participating in Tough Mudder competitions.

"I'm a pretty athletic guy, and this was something I could do," Gurkowich said before the event. He was looking forward to the Quibbletown students and his swim team showing up to cheer him on. "I coach a swim team from a private club out of Rutgers, the Scarlet Aquatics," he said. In fact, "tons" of fans showed up to cheer him on.

Before the event, Gurkovich trained to the point of completing 2,000 pull ups in six hours and 40 minutes. The rules set by the Guinness Book of World Records required him to work with a team of volunteer personal trainers, athletic trainers and physical therapists. On Saturday, he started at 10 a.m. doing five pull-ups every minutes, calculating that he might surpass the Guinness World's record of 4,030 pull-ups within 12 hours. But by 4 p.m., he slowed himself down to 4 pull-ups per minute, which extended the event.

The club remained open overnight so that the public could cheer Kyle on throughout the evening.

He reported that he broke the record at 1:10 a.m. Sunday morning. By 2 a.m., he had reached 4,180 pull-ups. Then he took a four-hour break.

"The 2 to 6 a.m. break didn't help my body, it definitely caught up to me," Kyle emailed MyCentralJersey.com. "I was only able to get two more reps at 6 a.m. and I couldn't take the pain anymore. I actually wound up tearing a tendon in my forearm around 1,000, but thought it was just a major soreness so I kept going the rest of the way. Final count and hopefully approved New Guinness world record for most pull-ups in 24 hours: 4,182."

Gerkovich still has to send the tape and evidence to Guinness to wait for their approval. There is no official count yet on how much was raised.

Contributions to Sloan Kettering in memory of Daniel Nols can be made to the website set ub by Dawn Nesler, the mother of one of Daniel's friends. It's http://mskcc.convio.net/site/TR/Events/GivingSite?pxfid=38190&fr_id=1580&pg=fund.